The Shadows in the Stars
by Sprintjump
Summary: One day, ponies find out more alicorns exist and try to find the lost kingdoms, & alicorns who are fearful of the ponies. Why? The most powerful alicorn in existence has an ancient hatred against Celestia, and this dangerous journey brings ponies to the very hooves of the most powerful alicorn, who despises them above all else. And what is this mysterious old book called the Bible?
1. Prolouge

I hate her, and for reasons long-lost to me. It happened long ago, when Luna was very young, but I have yet to remember what our big fight was about, all I know is each time I see her, we both go berserk. I can't stand her, she can't stand me, so the rest of our kind have decided that we are not allowed anywhere near each other in order so that we don't kill anypony. So far, so good.

Caramela says I need to sort out things with her, but I can never figure out exactly _what _to sort out with her. Cara says that I probably just need to somehow get locked in a room with her where we couldn't use our powers or fight each other, that way we could only talk, but since nothing like that exists, and nopony makes me go anywhere I don't want to, that idea got shelved. I kind of hated that we had to forget about it, because Cara was just so enthusiastic about the idea, but it was simply impossible.

Anyway, I think our kind was right to make me and her to keep away from each other. It gets ugly. I nearly obliterated her last time we fought, it took her weeks to recover, even with the help of her magic. Cara says I almost killed the sun, but I see no harm in her death. I could easily raise the stars, the sun, the moon, manage the seasons, basically, I could do everything myself, but I don't want to. Heck, I could destroy the tree of harmony and the elements alongside it! But, I don't like to have a lot on my plate, even though I could easily swallow it. I'm that kind of stallion.

Cara makes me sane actually, popping up now and then to make sure that my solitude hasn't turned me into Discord. She's one of the most important things to me, if she dropped out of my life, I'd be a mess. She's basically my little sister, treading a bit on the draconequus side of the psychological type of mind, but she's the best. And I love her sweets, all things sugar is basically her department. And by my name, she sure is an expert in her responsibilities.

I have no permanent home, I usually roam. I prefer to stay in the ruins of buildings, mostly churches. I miss Christmas, and I know that everyone else does too, but we made a pact long ago that we would never interfere with the commonponies beliefs. She and Luna have been the best at keep the pact so far, even though I know in the ancient book sections of their libraries still have aged bibles shelved. Sadly, no one dares go against their beliefs. I understand though, so would I.

The only thing that I travel with is my bible, and my amulet. I don't know why I keep it, because it was actually a gift from her, way back when we were little and when we were friends. The last time I met Luna, she said that the artificial one of our kind called Cadenz would know why I keep it, but I am still unsure if she was joking, or saying truth because she had that mischievous twinkle in her eyes. A thousand years on the Moon's face had not dimmed her spirit.

Today, it is cold. Bitterly. Neve's winds were always the coldest. She took her duties very seriously, but sometimes the ponies broke her efforts at making the perfect winter, morphing her winds and her clouds and her snow into what they pictured was 'perfect' , but this place, hidden deep in the Everfree, became subjected Neve's view of winter. It was beautiful.

In the church, I rested in the shadow of a painted glass window of the Virgin Mary. I so tired, yet the day wasn't even half over. I hadn't done much today, but I guess that a short night of sleep had sapped my energy. I was hoping today that Cara would visit me. And right as the thought crossed my mind, Cara appeared at the door frame of the church, smiling.

She walked up to me, and I realized just how much she had grown from when I had started roaming. Her light pink coat had gotten sleeker than her little baby fuzz, her curled wings had grown out a good bit, and her dark purple and mint streaked mane had become more manageable, usually set up in a pinned up braid. The only thing that had remained the same was her deep pink eyes and her cutiemark, a single sugar cane plant surrounded by a seemingly brown sparkling mist, her magic.

"Evening Notre!" she said so happily I thought she just might burst. She was still so young and innocent.

"Caramela", I nodded, exhausted, but her bright face made me hide it.

She trotted up with a giant grin. "Took me forever to find you! You've moved around so much, and I can't believe you chose the Everfree of all places!"

I laughed, knowing she hated the beasts and magic that this place had. I loved it though, because it helped me _keep_ my solitude.

"Notre! I've got big news! Did you hear that Brook and Oaken are expecting their first foal? It's the first of our kind the will be born in over three millennia!" Cara beamed. I thought a moment, Brook was over freshwater, caring for the aquatic animals in marshes, streams, brooks, rivers, and she shared estuaries with her older sister Harbour, whose duties mimicked Brook's except she was in charge of the saltwater. Oaken's duties were to the land, plants, and trees. A foal between two of the elements was sure to have quite a legacy to live up to.

"Quite an event, quite event", I mused, still deep in thought.

Cara sighed and trudged through the snow toward the me and poked me with her hoof. "Feeling up to your duties tonight?" she said pointing to my cutiemark. I laughed again, trying to hide my exhaustion. Of course, Cara saw right through that.

"Notre, are you sure you can bring up the stars tonight?" she asked again, more worried. I shook my head, but she became worried, and began fiddling her stone, her's was a light blue, quite different from my amulet, which was an almost-black blue.

I got up and nuzzled her face and smiled. "I am fine Cara. I am only tired because I was up a little late last night looking through some old places I used to go when I was young. I am fine, trust me", I said to calm her. She didn't seem to convinced, and she just had to try one last thing.

"Are you sure, because I could ask Tia if-"

Quick thing, my growls are not a thing to play with. Cara knew this already, and she immediately took the words back, knowing it was a bad idea from the start.

She sighed, and sat down in the snow next to me. She started to talk as if she was speaking to some invisible crowd. You see? This is the Discord kind of mind I was talking about.

"I, Princess Caramela, whose duties are to protect the sweetness in life, to make sure honey flows in the hives, to make sure all flowers have nectar, to make sure all cupcakes aren't a disgrace to cupcakekind-" she sweeped toward me, knowing I have literally NO baking skills whatsoever, "have an announcement. I call for all alicorns, powerful and mild, old and weak alike, to come together as one, to hear an announcement I have to say". She winked, and I realized she practicing, and she was trying out her speech on me. But I had to admit, it was a bit Discord to me.

"I know now, such as the fellow ones of our kind, Celestia and Luna, and the few other alicorn monarchs who dare to lead the commonpony, have proven, that our kind may once again cross paths with the commonpony. I do realize, that long ago, when our kind became hunted to near extinction by the commonpony, but times have changed. We cannot hold grudges for past mistakes, nor can we hold the descendents of the ones who hunted us responsible. It is wrong, and we are evil in our own right for doing so. I believe we should once again roam among the commonpony-"

She stopped suddenly, and sat down in the snow with a huff. She sighed,"Then I have writer's block".

I sighed with her, but with more sadness than she. The speech would never work. Ancient hatred still remained within us, and it would take a drastic turn of events to fix that.

"Please Cara, do not do this. You know I care about you, and I am only trying to prevent your heart from getting broken." I sighed with that. I could never bear to see her cry.

"But Notre-" she began.

"No. Cara you know what I said. To do this would result in you being heavily ridiculed, and I cannot allow that," I said sternly, my tone changing and my volume rising.

She gave me the most saddest eyes, and I could see her tearing up. I wanted to hug her, but I needed to get my point across.

"Fine. So that's it! Nothing I can do will work!" she sniffled.

"Cara, I am not saying that-"

"No Notre, I understand perfectly! I understand it completely! " she was crying now.

She got up, and teleported out of the church. I felt horrible, and I began to wonder where she had gone.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1:**

**Notes**

**Reg. POV**

_On the Outskirts Of Equestria..._

Cara wept silent tears as she passed through the rock shores where the land of Equestria stopped abruptly. The sea lapped gently against the rocks, which after years of the water buffing the rocks had become smooth, slippery, and hazardous. Pegasi didn't fly here, becomes the northern winds, that nopony knew where they came from, could easily shred some poor Pegasi's wings, ponies did not climb down the rocks, it was basically a suicide mission, and unicorn magic didn't really help.

Ponies came to the edge though, where the cliff dropped off. Some came to sort out their problems, others came to wonder what lay beyond the barriers of winds. _What might be out there across the sea?_ they would think. Over the centuries many had vowed to cross the waters, but none had ever had. Harbour had made sure that no one she didn't approve crossed the waters, because she was protecting her homeland. The place where all alicorns hail from.

Most of the explorerponies that dared to venture across the ocean had sunk, deemed greedy and vile, became sunken by the angry waves that Harbour sent out. She may have spared their lives if they gave her an offering, but since her existence was unknown, she was merciless to those unworthy. Brook was the calmer and the younger of the twins, but even her influence didn't save ponies from Harbour's wrath.

Cara was at the bottom of the cliffs, where the beach met the towering rock, and looked out over the sea. She missed home. Home. That had concept was long-lost to her and looking out she realized how big the ocean was that she had crossed. The ocean was this lovely green-blue that day, and Cara realized that Harbour probably knew she was there. Harbour was a good friend, although temperamental, she seemed to always make you feel better. Cara wished Harbour could be here now though.

Breezea's winds hit Cara, and she embraced the sea breeze on in her mane. She wanted ponies to interact with her kind again. They thought they controlled everything.

But didn't they wonder, who made the cold? Where did the idea of snowflake designs first come from? Did the stars just follow the moon? Who made sure the seaweed harvest at it's best? Who made the clouds fill with moisture? Who made the currents of the stream? Who made the southern winds and northern winds harvested by the weather ponies? Why did a freak wildfire seem so controlled? Who told the flowers they were to bloom? Who told the trees to color and shed their leaves? Why did honey not sour at its taste? Who gave the ancients their wisdom? Where did Celestia and Luna hail from? Why? Why?

They were so naïve. They just didn't understand that there were others, or they either realized and refused to acknowledge it. It was, stupid.

Did they not realize this?

* * *

Sabiduria, whose duties were to give wisdom, and Harbour were on an undiscovered island's shores in deep conversation.

"Sabi, you know that I know that Notre is getting a little rebellious lately. Did you realize what he did to Caramela? She is crying on the northern shores of Celestia's kingdom right now because of his response her to her little speech! Talk about destroying her self-confidence!" Harbour said, with a certain note of dislike in her voice.

"Harbour, what Notre said was true, however harsh. I could not have said it better myself. Do you wish that Cara be utterly destroyed with all the hate she would receive for suggesting the notion of our presence needing to become known? I think not", Sabiduria said, with calm and smooth voice, as if she were cutting off Harbour's argument altogether, which was what basically happened.

Harbour groaned, Sabi was a darn good friend, but she was just no fun when she was actually RIGHT. Sabi had MANY differences at the same time also, first in appearance. Harbour was a light blue with white and green mane, a cutiemark of a swirl of dark blue, a magic whirlpool. Sabiduria on the other hand was a warm milky chocolate with a very curly white mane, a cutiemark of a piece of parchment, running down to the very tip of her hoof. Manes that flowed with an alicorn's own magic were reserved for the celestial alicorns, Celly, Lulu, and Notre, because these alicorns contained the most magic out of all beings that lived on earth.

Right as Harbour was about to come back with a good come back, she suddenly paused. Someone she hadn't accounted for was on her ocean. They were still close to shore, though, not truly in her sea.

"Harbour?" Sabiduria asked, looking at her friend, who had suddenly tensed up. She only did this when she was debating over sinking a ship.

"There are three fillies on the ship, all are blank. I think they are trying to head back the shore, but my currents pulling them out," Harbour said, looking into the distance as if she actually saw the fillies. "They were trying to see if boating was their talent. Such silly little things…" Harbour slowly drifted off wistfully.

Sabi knew what she was doing. "Harbour, do not sink them! They are only fillies, listen to me!"

Harbour shook her head and smiled, with a mischievous glint in her eyes, just like Luna. "What do you say, Sabi, if we have the first Southern Kingdom ponies in the Northern Kingdoms for the first time?" she said.

Sabi was surprised. Her grudge-holding friend was really allowing three _southern_ _**commonponies**_ to come to her homeland?

"I mean, they're only fillies right?" Harbour smiled.

Both Harbour and Brook both possessed the unusual ability to go into an aquatic-like state, their back hoofs became a long seahorse tail, and their normally feathered wings turned into almost invisible fish-like butterfly-shaped wings, and their manes became almost watery. This was their equivalent of Luna's ability to of becoming a magic cloud.

This is what Harbour did at the moment, and she dove into the water. She was already aiming her currents, judging the winds, and making the boat get turned toward the forbidden land. She was going to find them. She was going to take them, to the homeland, and something deep inside of her was driving her to do this.

* * *

(Play Eternal Vow performed by Yo-Yo Ma to full get this scene and put it in the right mood)

Notre shakily got out of the church after the night had finished, just as the sun came over the horizon. He was better than yesterday, it felt like his exhaustion had dimmed down. She shook his head as the snowfall gently covered him, and smiled.

He stood there, the tallest black alicorn with the starry mane and the flank covered in stars, against the pure white snow. The sun rose gracefully in the sky, by Celestia's doing. The snow glittered faintly with the morning colors, giving the entire landscape the faint colors of the sky.

Notre paused, and sighed. The snow, it trigger a memory….

"_Celly, do you promise if we ever fight you will make me realize that I am wrong?" Notre asked, the snow falling all around the two young foals._

"_Tre, I promise. I have a gift for you. Lauren gave me permission to give it to you", she said smiling, her light pink mane flowing behind her. She held out to him a box, a simple little one, with some red string tied to it in a bow._

_Notre took it and opening it, he saw his stone, which he had worked so hard to earn. Celly's already hung around her neck, dark pink and glittering, catching the light of the snow. _

_She grabbed it and put it around his neck, and looked back and smiled. She looked at him head to toe, and giggled._

"_You'd look better if you had tamed your mane this morning!"_

"_Don't start"._

Notre shook away the memory and looked again at the snow. Times had changed.

And now, he was trying to hate her as much as he possibly could.

* * *

Later…

Celestia sat in her room just as Luna's moon rose in the sky. The kingdom's troubles had simmered down ever since the elements had been returned and the defeat of Tirek. Celestia liked this pace now, where all was good in the kingdom and there was less of the crazy freak accidents that always happened.

Just as she was going to go to bed, she heard the familiar sound of a letter being teleported to her, strange as most went to her study.

She turned around, and right on the floor of her room was a letter. It was tied with a short purple ribbon, Sabiduria's defining symbol. Celestia rushed for the letter, and opened it.

It was a simply note.

_**Talk**__ to him._

_~Sabi_

* * *

Guide to all Alicorns & Draconequs to be used:

P.M. If you want the link


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2:**

**Broken Pieces of the Sun, the Back of the Moon, and the Places We've Been**

The Cutiemark Crusaders were truly scared. Earlier, Scootaloo had suggested that they try out boating, and disaster had followed. The small rowboat they were in was slowly being pulled away from shore, where the rope that held them to it snapped.

"Scootaloo! We are drifting to the sea!" Sweetiebelle cried, as the boat turned in the unnaturally current. The sea seemed to have changed, the waves more choppy, more forcefully. The current had changed, sucking the boat quickly out.

"Help! Help!" Apple Bloom cried, although nopony was near the shore and nopony would hear their cries. The Mane 6 were in Canterlot, doing business with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, and all the Seagrass Ponies had all tended their crops already and were safe in their homes.

"Where's Dash when you need her?" Scootaloo said, lost at what to do. Suddenly, the boat violently turned, making the CC rock in their little boat.

"We are heading out to the Northern Sea", Sweetiebelle whispered, petrified. All fillies and colts heard the tales of the Northern Sea, where boats became swallowed up by the angry waves and good ponies drowned. Now at the peak of winter, the sea must have been rougher than ever, the cold winds making the waves reach unimaginable heights. Now the fillies feared that they were going end of their short lives.

The three of them looked back at the shore, now growing farther and farther away. The fillies were well out of the shallows, the couldn't see the bottom of the sea. It was petrifying to the fillies.

"We'll be okay," Scootaloo said, although clearly sounding like she was trying to convince herself more than her friends.

The three crept to the middle of the small boat, as shore became a thin line on the horizon behind them. They had become petrified. They cried silently as they every slowly drifted away from home.

* * *

Something splashed. It sounded big, and it shocked the ponies from their dreams of returning home as they craned to get a better look.

"Could it be an orca?" Sweetiebelle said. This fabled aquatic mammals rumored to live in the Northern Seas, and supposedly deadly.

"Look!" Apple Bloom shouted, pointing toward the North, where a light blue tail was surfacing.

Scootaloo climbed to the head of the boat and looked out perilously, but the tail was gone.

"Hello little fillies", came unknown voice from the end of the boat. The CC whirled around, and saw a unicorn, or at least they thought it was a unicorn, swimming in the water. All they saw was her head, she had blue eyes, a light blue coat, and white and green hair. And she had this necklace of a dark green stone around her neck.

"Who are you? Whatcha doing out here?" Apple Bloom said, looking out over the edge of the boat.

The mare laughed, "Impatience, I remember when I was like that. To answer your question, my name is Harbour, and why would you ask me what I am doing in my home?"

Scootaloo gave her a strange look. "What do you mean you live here?"

Harbour smiled, and sank beneath the waves, leaving only bubbles where she once was. Then, a powerful splash, Harbour surfaced and flew in the air. For a brief second, the ponies saw her wing-like fins and long seahorse tail, before she seemed to change. The tail melted into a pair of back legs, and the fins became two powerful wings flapping in the air and a long white green and white wavy tail, just like seagrass. This alicorn was just a little smaller than Luna.

The fillies looked on, stunned, because they had only know that there were four alicorns in existence. This defied, everything.

The alicorn flapped her wings to stay in mid-air, and smiled at the fillies. "The sea is my duty". The alicorn flew up to the boat and landed inside, making the fillies gasp.

"How can there be more alicorns?" Sweetiebelle asked. She was staring at Harbour with eyes full of wonder.

"There is many commonponies don't know. I'm only revealing myself to you so I can show you that you fillies are not alone", Harbour answered.

Apple Bloom jumped in front of the alicorn. "Can you take us home?" she asked quickly and sniffling.

"No, I am afraid I can't. Turning the tides would cause disaster for the fisherponies, and I could end up killing somepony", Harbour said, which was pretty much the truth.

"You mean, we're stuck out here forever?" Scootaloo said disbelievingly.

Harbour shook her head and smiled. "I can take you across the Northern Sea. I **am** taking you across the Northern Sea." The fillies were in awe, and with fear. Go across the Northern Sea? Suicide. Go across the Northern Sea with an alicorn? Tempting.

Harbor pointed her hoof North. "The Northern Kingdoms will give you three refugee until I can change the tides."

"Northern Kingdoms? What do you mean Northern Kingdoms?" Apple bloom said with curiosity.

"There are four kingdoms, Martingale, Dressage, Gaita, and Vaulting. The closet is Gaita, so that is where I will bring you three, and it is also where one of my kind, Breazea, rules".

Harbour looked to the sea opposite of the fillies' homeland. It seemed as if the sea went on forever.

But the hope was enough to convince them.

* * *

To the North, beyond the four kingdoms, lies another sea. After it's crossed, another place, full of magic and mystery, lies there. The alicorn's homeland.

The land is full of a foggy woodland and rolling hills. The clouds never break, and the sky remains grey. The woods are dark, but open, with giant trees with grey trunks that spread yards apart, but their treetops make an everlasting roof. These trees, called the _Sanadores,_ or healers. The bark could to heal any illness, it could even cure a broken heart.

Under the tallest Sanadora, was a certain black stallion, resting beneath the tree. When he, her, Harbour, Brook, Oaken, and Sabiduria were foals they had carved into the trees around the tallest, but left it blank. Each of the group had their own tree, where they had carved their life story, as had all alicorns before them. The tallest tree was for the important events that affected the community, like weddings, wars, and grudges. Death and births became recorded on one's own tree.

An alicorn's Sanadora tree became carved like this: At the very top of the tree, when the alicorn received their cutiemark, they had carved on the very top of the tree. The first thing carved into the tree was the alicorns birth, than events from foalhood, next were events as preadolescent, events as adolescents, than events from adulthood. Things carved in ones one tree was, of course, marriage, then children, fights, divorce, anything like that. The last thing carved into the tree was the alicorn's death date, carved by their surviving mate, or their eldest foal.

Notre's tree, a good ways away from the great tree but not that far, was fairly blank, even though he was the eldest of the living alicorns. He had covered his foalhood in detail, but Notre didn't update it very often. At the very top were all the speckles that covered his flank. The Cutiemark on the tree was different though. The speckles raced down the sides of the trees, making a lovely swirl design, just like the stars were making little magic vines.

_Stars aren't meant to be in one place Tre, they were meant to cover the sky in the designs the guide a pony, but also shows them beauty. But stars are not all light, because the hide the shadows in the space inbetween them. I have the light, and Luna has the dark, but Tre, you have the shadows in you, and its your job the shadows are never evil. You must never let your powers get away from you, because you contain more power than anyone else inside you. You contain shadows, dark, and light, all of them. You have broken pieces of the sun, the back of the moon, and the places we've been._

_So I must be evil?_

_No, Tre, you will never be evil, at least in my eyes, just like Discord. You're just misunderstood, like them. Shadows are evil, and good, because the shadows remind us of where we have been, and what is left. You are wonder in itself._

_Then I guess my stars will cover the tree, and in the spaces between are my carvings, my shadows. I have the shadows, which are the memories, the pictures are the dark, which really shows the way, and my stars…they are your light. No. They are __**my light.**_ _I have the shadows, the light, and the dark._

_How did you come across that?_

_It's who I am Tia. I'm all the pieces, made into one._

Notre shook his head, forcing the memory away. Cara was trying to make him talk to her, Sabi was trying to, heck, even _Harbour_ was trying to, and she never, ever, cared about him.

The forest creaked in the wind, and Notre sighed. He looked up at the beginning, reviewing his tree.

_Príncipe Notre, nacido el 21 de diciembre, la noche más larga del año. La primera alicorn a nacer después de la muerte del hombre en Jesús de Nazaret, quien predicó en una lejana tierra, pero el Espíritu Santo, y se convirtió en nuestro salvador.. __**(Prince Notre, born the 21st of December, the longest night of the year. The first alicorn to be born after the death of the human in **__**Jesus of Nazareth, who preached in a land faraway, but the Holy Spirit, and became **__**our saviour. )**_

Back then everyone was very religious.

Then next was an alicorn foal, and then two small draconequus at his side. The alicorn seemed to be playing with the two. The Caption:

_Mi primer amigo de Notre, los dos niños draconequus, la Discord y Astrid. __**(My first friend, the two draconequus children, Discord and Astrid)**_

There was a few more, Notre meeting Celestia and Luna, his parent's deaths. He dealing with Lauren's death, and his fight with Celestia.

He had been so angry, he had carved a picture of him, now fully grown, about to rear and crush her head.

He still didn't remember what the fight was about.

* * *

Sabi was still on the island, reading a book called _**The Guide of Sorting Out Other's Problems.**_

Then, a familiar letter fell in front of her face.

_Sabi,_

_What the (Censored) are (Censored) you thinking?_

Sabiduria never knew just how colorful Celestia's dictionary was. Well, she did, it was just Celestia usually used the dictionary on Notre, not her friends.

She grabbed a piece of parchment and look at the list. She checked off the first step with a smile.

* * *

I love that part about the Ghost Woods. Dark, Light, and Shadow were genius by me.

Oh the Shakespeare! XD

Review!


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3:**

**The Gateway to the Northern Lands**

"_Notre, how could you not help us against Sombra? He had stolen __**your **__magic!" Celestia roared as she confronted him in another abandoned and ruined church. She had just gotten back from fighting and defeating Sombra, but also the loss of the Empire._

"_Celestia, he never had my true power. He only possessed a mere fraction that of the shadows that could not even begin to amount to me! Do you not understand that in the light of the Moon and in the light of the Sun, the shadows go to _me. I_ contain all the shadows._ I_ wield their might and _I_ am able to possess the fear that they contain. _I_ will not fight the shadows, not matter who holds the power, because they belong to _me! _Those who stand against you, are your problem!" His voice rose by the second, and Notre was beginning to feel a change in the distance between him and his long time friend._

"_Notre, how dare you say that to my face! How dare you! Do you not care for the ponies that you would have left to slavery? At least I tried to save them!" Celestia said, clearly more concerned for the hunters of their race instead of her own race's _survival.

"_And look how that turned out Celestia! They are banished to an icy stasis for who knows how long! You care more about the murderers than those who were murdered!"_

_Celestia stepped back, appalled by his words. "Notre, how can you say that?"_

"_No, Tia. LISTEN_. _You care more about those commonponies than you do your own kind. Do I matter? Does Luna? Does Lauren? Does Sabi? Does anyone?" He yelled at her._

_Celestia gave him a glare and retorted," Do you even care about anyone?"_

_He snapped. Notre reared up from his place where he was standing and aimed for Celestia's face, but she leaped out of the way, barely missing the flying hooves._

"_Notre!" she cried, but he came at her again, and this time, he struck her shoulder, and she yelped in pain._

_Notre aimed his horn and blasted at her while she was defenseless, she didn't even have time to cast a simple shield spell. The blast, black and gleaming like obsidian, struck her hard and she went crashing into the wall._

"_Notre…..Stop this…." she said as she shakily pulled herself up._

"_NO. No, you will not tell me again about anything you think I have done wrong! You think Sombra evil? You think he was so powerful, full of hate and shadows, that you could not defeat him? You are a fool Celestia. __**I. Am. The. Shadows", **__he screamed._

_Celestia came at him this time, sending out a weak beam at him which he easily deflected. Celestia had gotten to her hooves now, and she spat out a mouthful of deep red blood._

_Notre watched her, just waiting for her to come at him, since he knew she would be defeated easily. Celestia gave with a deadly stare, and she once again she threw a an otherwise deadly blow at him, but he simply side-stepped._

_He came at her again, this time with his hooves, and hit the side of her neck. She cried out in pain, and once again crumpled to the floor, this time with a large gash on her neck. A red pool was forming, Celestia looked up at him with wide eyes, full of fear and hurt at his betrayal. _

_Notre faced her, and he knew what he wanted to do next. It would have been so easy, her being so helpless, him standing there, in complete control. She couldn't have done a thing._

_But he knew it was wrong. And that's why he held back, no matter how much he wanted._

_Notre leaned down, and whispered in her ear:_

"_You have betrayed your own kind"._

Celestia looked at herself in her room's mirror, fresh out the shower. The long pink scar that ran from her cheek to the shoulder showed now, usually her coat covered it up so perfectly.

She looked at herself in the mirror. The princess was still there. The mare with those pink eyes, white coat, and the same moving hair. The scar stood out, showing her betrayal, at least in Notre's eyes. She was marked for life, but much worse could have happened. Much worse than death. He could've….

No, she just needed to stop thinking about that.

The scar was one that contained magic, shadow magic. It was what allowed Celestia to use just a fraction of the shadows with her power. Notre had intentionally put it there, and he could take it away easily at anytime.

Celestia looked at herself again. The scar was still there, and would always be there. Celestia would forever keep it, to remind her that she had made the best ally an enemy, and he controlled her.

The mirror can lie, if makeup and false imagery corrupts the user. But it was not this way. She, Celestia, raiser of the sun, saw the truth.

But she could not see which had been the evil side.

…

Sabi tred silently between the Sanadoras, looking at the carvings of her many friends. She wondered how this forest might have looked if the events of the few millennia prior had not occurred. This forest would have surely been bigger, and there would be many more trees, and many more stories.

Behind her, Brook, finally able to get away from Oaken's overprotective eyes, followed, looking amongst the trees. It was quite nice today, cool, and the clouds seemed somewhat thinner. Sabi had called for her, and Brook would do anything for her friend. She followed silently, although this land was surely safe from the common.

"Brook, do you remember when we were little, and we were playing at the Wet Caves with Luna, Discord, Astrid, Celly, and Notre?"

"Yes?"

"Well, remember when we did the blood vow? _In grudge or in league, In love or in leave, We vow, We vow, a thousand of vows, that we shall have, a wish_", Sabi said.

"Sabi, you mean, you want to use your wish? What will use it for?" Brook said disbelievingly.

"You know what is it you have, for Oaken?"

Brook blushed a bit, knowing full well.

"I know two who need that".

"Sabi, you know-"

"I know the rules, and I AM wisdom. I used every bit of my knowledge to come to this decision".

"And-"

"Remember Cara's idea for Notre and Tia in a room? I found that room. Here, among the Sanadoras. My wish is that Notre and Tia meet here.".


End file.
